Happy Life near the Railway Learn English through story level 2
dunstanthwaite looked at the railway
crossing
and decided that it was time for john
dunn to die
it was a very suitable place for a
murder
there were trees all around
and they hid the trains which came so
fast along the railway line
the nearest house was thwaite’s own
and this was also hidden by the trees
people and traffic did not use the
crossing very often
and the big gates were kept locked
there was a small gate used by
passengers going to the station
but at night
it was always quiet
thwaite
was a worried man
he had to use sleeping powders to help
him sleep
but after tonight
things were going to be different
the time had come to stop the blackmail
the time had come
for john dunn
to die
it all began
five years earlier
thwaite worked in the offices of a large
company
and his only money was the money that
the company paid him
it was not much but it was enough
then he met the beautiful miss hilda
lorraine
and asked her to marry him
she came from an important family who
was supposed to be very rich but in fact
they had less money than thwaite had
thought
he learned that he would have to pay for
the wedding himself
and he did not have enough money for the
expensive kind of wedding that miss
lorraine wanted
so
thwaite
stole a thousand pounds by changing the
figures in the company’s books
he planned to put the money back after
he was married
but someone discovered
that it was missing
thwaite kept quiet
another man was thought to be the thief
and he lost his job
thwaites still said
nothing but john dunn
worked in the same office
he worked closely with wait
and guest thwaites crime
he searched through the company’s books
until he found what he was looking for
then
he went to thwait
sorry to have to ask you mr thwaite
he said
i need a hundred pounds
for my son
he’s in a bit of trouble you see
but you don’t have a son
said thwaite
done
just smiled
it wasn’t a very nice smile
a hundred pounds
he said again
and then thwaite knew that he was being
blackmailed
he paid done 100 pounds and dunn said
nothing more for a year
during that time thwaite got married
then the day came when dunn asked him
for more money
250 pounds
he said to thwaite i can’t pay
began thwaite
but he did
either he paid
or he went to prison
it went on for five years
and each time
dunn wanted more money
thwaite found it difficult to live on
the money that he was left with
his wife liked expensive things
an expensive house
an expensive car
visits to expensive restaurants
she also discovered that some of the
money her husband was paid each year
seemed to disappear
he tried to lie about it
but he knew that she thought he was
paying to keep another woman
oh how he hated john dunn
something must happen
and then
he remembered the railway crossing
it was not a new idea
weeks before he had thought about what
could happen there
the idea came when the doctor gave him
some powders to help him sleep
he thought about giving dunn enough of
them to kill him
but then
he got a better idea
although he was afraid
thwaite slowly realized that murder was
the only answer to his problem
then dunn
asked for more money
500 pounds
mr thwaite
dunn told him
500
said thwaite
why not ask for the moon
you’ll get neither one nor the other
500
repeated done calmly
it was then that thwaite decided to
murder the other man
he pretended to think about the money
for a moment
then he said
come to my house tomorrow night
and we’ll talk
he remembered his wife was going to be
away in london all night
and
bring those papers from the office which
you want me to look at
all right
said done
the following evening thwaite put 200
pounds in his pocket
then he put one half of his sleeping
powders into a whiskey bottle
there was only enough whiskey for two
glasses
but there was an unopened bottle next to
it
next he put a hammer into one pocket of
his overcoat
and a torch
into the other pocket
the coat was outside the door of his
study
lastly he moved the hands on his watch
and on the study clock forward
by 10 minutes
those extra 10 minutes
would give him his alibi
thwaite knew that he must be extra
careful
he knew that people at the office
thought there was some secret between
him and dunn
a secret that thwaite didn’t want anyone
to know
if dunn is killed
he thought
they’ll wonder
if it was really an accident
or if i murdered him but if his plan
went well
the police would believe that he hadn’t
left the house
thwaite sat down to wait for john dunn
he thought about what he was going to do
murder
he could almost see his hand holding the
hammer above done
could hear the awful sound of it
crashing down onto the man’s head
he could see dunn’s dead body
dead
all except the eyes
which looked at thwaite
followed him
everywhere he went
he tried to calm himself
he remembered why he was doing this
when don was dead
his problems were over
half an hour later
don arrived
jane opened the door
jame was the servant who lived in the
house with thwaite and his wife
she brought dunn into the study
thwaite smiled in a friendly way
oh good
you’ve brought those papers for me to
see done
thank you
after jane left the two men looked at
each other
give me the papers thwaite said
i’ll look at them now that you’ve
brought them
fifteen minutes later
he gave the papers back to dunn
and sat back in his chair
now
about that other matter
he got up
but why not have a drink first
no thank you
said done
he looked afraid
what are you afraid of
said wait
he gave don the opened whiskey bottle
and two glasses
we can both drink the same whiskey if
you like
here
you do it
after a moment
dunn put whiskey into each glass
then he waited until thweight drank
before he drank his own
thwaite watched him
how long before the other man began to
feel sleepy
thwaite needed all of one’s sleeping
powder to make him sleep
but done
did not usually take them
listen done said wait
i haven’t got 500 pounds
but i can give you this
he took the money from his pocket
and put it on the table
done counted it
200
he said with a laugh
are you trying to be funny
i’m not saying it will be the last
said thwaite
take it now and be pleased that you’ve
got it
done
shook his head
500
mr thwaite
i’ve told you
i can’t do it
said thwaite
and i won’t do it
you can tell everyone what i did i don’t
care anymore
it’s been five years
and i’ve done a lot of good work for the
company during that time
i saved them a lot more than a thousand
pounds
i’ll sell this house and pay them back
i’ll take my punishment then i’ll go and
live in another country and give myself
a new name
and your wife
said done
my wife will leave the country first
thwaite told him
she’ll wait for me to come out of prison
it won’t be more than two or three years
so you can take the 200 pounds or you
can do your worst
the powder in the whiskey was beginning
to make dunn sleepy
he looked stupidly at thwaite
and thwaite began to worry
had he given the other man too much
he looked at the clock there was not
much time left
will you take it or leave it
asked wait
500
said done in a heavy voice
i want
five
hundred
you can go and do your worst
said thwaite
done held out a shaking hand
come on pay me
sweat began to worry again
are you feeling all right done
i have some more whiskey
he opened the other bottle and put some
whiskey in dunn’s glass
dun drank it
and it seemed to make him feel better
that was strange
he said
i didn’t feel very well
but i feel a little better now
if you’re going to catch your train you
must go
seth waite
tell me tomorrow what you finally decide
to do
take the 200 with you
dun thought for a moment
then picked up the money
he looked at his watch
then looked at the study clock
your clock is wrong
he said
i have ten more minutes
wrong
seth wait
he looked at his own watch
it’s your watch that’s wrong
look at mine
dunn looked
and seemed unable to understand it
he stood up
and almost fell back again
thwaite hid a smile
this
was how he wanted dunn to be
you’re not feeling well
he said
i’ll take you to the station
wait until i get my coat
now that the time was here
thwaite felt cool
and calm
he put on his coat
feeling the hammer in the pocket
then went back into the study
we’ll go out this way
he said
there was a side door from the study
into the garden
thwaite closed it silently
and it locked automatically behind him
it was his plan to return that way
go in quietly again
and then to change the clock and his
watch back to the right time
then he would shout good night
and close the front door very loudly
pretending that somebody had left just
then
next he would call jane
and ask for some coffee
making sure that she saw the clock
then
if the police asked her later
jane could say that thwaite did not
leave the house
and the dunn went to catch his train
at the right time
it was a dry night
but very dark
a train carrying freight went slowly by
thwaite smiled to himself
there were plenty of freight trains at
that time of the night
he needed one of them to hide his crime
for him
he planned to hit done on the head with
the hammer then put his body on the
railway line
a freight train
would do the rest
slowly the two men walked on
thwaite holding dunn’s arm a light wind
moved among the trees
thwaite gently pushed the half asleep
down forwards
he put his hand into his pocket
for the hammer
and stopped
his keys
they were still inside the house
and he could not get back in without
them
he would have to ring the front doorbell
his alibi was destroyed
it was a bad mistake
everything was wrong now
he couldn’t go on with the murder
most murderers make mistakes
thoughthwaite
trying to calm himself
i’ve been the same
but he was shaking with fear as he
thought about the mistake
suddenly he could not walk another step
with dunn
good night
he said to the other man
and before they reached the crossing
he turned
and walked back to the house
for ten minutes thwaite walked up and
down outside until he began to feel calm
again
then he rang the bell
a few moments later
jane opened the door
thank you jane he said
i went to see mr dunn over the crossing
and i forgot my keys
he went to bed a happier man
he was not a murderer
when he was eating his breakfast the
next morning
he decided what to do
i’ll tell them at the office that i
stole the thousand pounds
he said to himself
i’ll take my punishment
and then i can have some peace again
it suddenly seemed so easy
until jane came in
have you heard the news sir
she said
mr dunn was killed by a train on the
crossing last night
a man who was working on the railway
line found him this morning
wait
slowly went white
jane was looking at him strangely
what was she thinking
what story did he tell her the night
before
he couldn’t remember
done killed
he said
how terrible jane
i’ll go down
the body was in a small railway building
near the line
there was a policeman outside
a sad accident mr thwaite
the policeman said
you knew the man didn’t you sir
he worked in my office
replied thwaite
he was with me last night discussing
business
i suppose this happened on his way home
it’s terrible
it’s very sad sir
said the policeman
but accidents will happen
i know that
said wait
but i wish he hadn’t drunk so much of my
whiskey
i was going to walk with him to the
station
the policeman looked closely at thwaite
and did you sir
no
said wait the cold night air seemed to
make him feel better
i turned back before the crossing
the policeman said no more
but later that day two more policemen
came to the office
have they talked to jane
one earthwaite
again he told them
i left done before we reached the
railway crossing
they wrote down what he said to them
then went away
next day
they came back
there were things that thwaite could not
explain to them
why did the whiskey bottle contain what
was left of a sleeping powder
why was the study clock
wrong by 10 minutes
at dinner time earlier on the same
evening jane had noticed that it was
right
and why
was a hammer found in his overcoat
then the police found papers in dunn’s
house
the handwriting on them was duns
it told the story of thwaite
and the thousand pounds
and it told how thwaite was a thief
the police then discovered that money
taken from thwaite’s bank account over
the last five years
always appeared a few days later
in dunn’s bank book
lastly
the time of death was known to be 10 30
pm
because dunn’s blood was found on the
train that went through the railway
crossing at that time
it was also
seven minutes before jane opened the
front door to let thwaite back in
at first
thwaite had no answers to all their
questions
finally
on his last morning
he told them the true story
then he went to his death
bravely
you